Asset Performance Networks Reflects on the 11th Annual TINC America Conference

Houston, Texas, October 10, 2013 — TINC America 2013, held in September, was a resounding success. With a record turnout of professionals representing 36 companies from 10 different countries, TINC continued its proud tradition as an elite owners only forum for discussing turnaround best practices.

Presentations
Ernie Schutt from Koch Industries served as this year’s keynote speaker. He highlighted the need for companies to benchmark their rate of success against their competitors, and gave us the mantra for this year’s TINC: Scope matters.

Brett Schroeder broke down AP-Networks turnaround data from the past three years and introduced us to a new turnaround classification: Mega Complexity. Brett singled out people and processes as the deciding factors in achieving readiness.

Ord Limbrick from LyondellBasell shared informational “nuggets” about the steps the company’s Houston Refinery took to improve their turnaround performance. He emphasized the integral role played by a visibly supportive leadership team, and donned the “3/3” hat that he had fashioned to commemorate his team’s success in achieving “3 out of 3” key outcomes on recent turnarounds.

Glenn Overman from Valero shifted the focus from measurement to documentation. Walking us through Valero’s Turnaround Schedule Controls, Glenn let us in on the secret to using these documented systems and processes effectively—namely, updating them frequently and consulting them often.

Steve Jewell kicked his presentation off with an entertaining video that made one simple point: risk can never be eliminated. Instead, Steve focused on the importance of managing risk. He affirmed the need to give risk management the time it requires and the importance of not overlooking low likelihood, high impact risks.

Randy G. Best from Shell Downstream, Inc. began his presentation by asking “How’syamommanem’?” and introducing everyone to a down-home dialect. Randy went on to speak about the importance of a comprehensive work process and timely dedication of resources in combatting the effects of growing turnaround complexity and a shrinking work force.

Shawn Hansen laid out the difficulty in integrating capital projects with turnarounds, citing an inability to successfully integrate the two as the #2 reason for turnaround failure. Shawn focused on the important roles played by common plans & milestones and a clearly delineated organizational hierarchy in keeping everything on track.

This year’s expert panel was comprised of Cheyenne Chapman from INVISTA, James Mendler from Phillips 66, Jose P. Monteiro from BP Husky LLC Refining, and our own Bobby Vichich. Together they delved into the questions submitted by conference attendees, and even fielded some questions live from the audience. Attendees also responded to questions from panel moderator Tom Mankowski, giving their answers via polling technology and providing an intriguing snapshot of industry.

Last but not least was Phil Richer, who provided a data driven look at organizational capacity. Phil let us know that team composition—in regards to percentage of full time, embedded, and outsourced staff—does not factor into turnaround success. What does factor in is whether or not companies cross the organizational tipping point, a metric uncovered in the data Phil presented.

Breakout Sessions
TINC was not all presentations. The true highlight of the show was, as always, the Breakout Sessions. In these sessions attendees discussed a wide range of topics, including:

• Best Practices for Preparing a Turnaround Operations Plan
• Cost/Schedule Control Strategies
• Craft Attraction and Retention
• Integrating Capital Projects with the Business Planning Cycle
• Low Complexity Turnaround Discussion
• Staff Resourcing Planning Tactics
• Turnaround Estimating Practices
• Utilizing the Schedule to Drive Turnarounds
• Upstream Turnaround Discussion

Takeaways from this Year’s TINC America
The point that got driven home again and again this year was the need for leadership to take an active role in turnarounds. To be executed successfully, turnarounds require the full support of everyone in the plant, and that begins with leadership.

This need for strong leadership manifested in vocal support of steering teams. An effective steering team not only ensures that a turnaround plan is made, but that that plan is followed. When each team member takes ownership for a particular aspect of the turnaround, the team’s effectiveness increases that much more.

There was also an emphasis on turnaround planning and readiness. Industry leadership has begun to realize the strategic importance of turnarounds. Now, they need to make plans on how to handle them.

Lastly, “scope matters” was a sentiment echoed by numerous speakers at TINC America 2013. Setting an appropriate scope and having proper processes in place for making adjustments after scope freeze can mean the difference between a successful turnaround and a train wreck.

Conference attendees weren’t the only ones at TINC looking to gain new insight. AP-Networks is constantly learning as well, and this year was no exception. It’s always impressive to hear industry leaders discuss strategies for better turnarounds. We’re excited to be on the same path that industry is on, and we’re looking forward to TINC America 2014.

Asset Performance Networks is the trusted leader for improving asset and operational performance in petroleum, chemical, and energy companies worldwide. With data from more than 1,000 turnarounds across the globe, the company’s turnaround database is the most comprehensive in the industry. For more information on Asset Performance Networks please visit http://www.apnetworks.staging.wpengine.com.

Media Contact: communications@www.ap-networks.com